unnecessary because the First Amendment already guarantees freedom of religious expression with these words: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

School children already have many religious rights, including: The right to pray privately and individually while in school, to say grace at lunchtime, organize religious groups and meet on school grounds, read the Bible or other religious texts during free time and -- perhaps most important of all -- to be free of efforts to coerce their participation in officially designed and led religious activity.

This is a nation of many religions. Americans are free to practice, or not practice, religion as they wish -- as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others to practice what they believe.

The prayer amendment is risky because it could be misinterpreted and used to coerce students into certain religious activities. The beauty of the First Amendment is that it not only guarantees free speech, it also specifies the separation of church and state in a nation known for its rainbow of ethnicities and religions.

Proponents of the amendment traditionally have pointed to periodic incidents where school children were incorrectly told they can't read the Bible on school buses or wear religious jewelry to class. Such unfortunate incidents boil down to this: Misguided, misinformed people restricted those students' right to religious expression, despite its protection by the First Amendment.

Passage of Rep. Istook's Religious Freedom Amendment would require approval by two-thirds of House members present and voting. To change the Constitution, the Senate also would have to approve the amendment by a two-thirds vote, and then the legislatures of 34 states would have to ratify it.

Considering all these hurdles, it seems unlikely the amendment will cross the finish line. On the other hand, Republicans are under increasing -- and unprecedented -- pressure from some religious groups to make the "right" decisions on various matters pending before Congress. If they don't measure up, they risk getting booted from office in the next election.

House members on both sides of the aisle should prevent the proposed amendment from clearing its first hurdle. There is no need to tamper with a Bill of Rights that has served us well for more than 200 years.